GGPoker and Players Donate $354K to Caesars Cares Charity

Every year, the World Series of Poker adds a charity component to its summer series. There is always at least one bracelet-awarding tournament that forgoes the rake and donates all fees paid by players to a particular charity. This has been happening for well over a decade.

This year, the WSOP took its action online due to the coronavirus pandemic, but poker players tend to show their generosity no matter the venue.

In addition, poker players step up for charity no matter the technical difficulties and date changes. After a rough first day of the WSOP 2020 Online on GGPoker that put a hold on the charity tournament not long after it began, players returned the following weekend to play it out.

And GGPoker put extra money in the charity pot as a good faith gesture.

Alek Stasiak Wins Event 33

The charity tournament in this year’s WSOP was Event 33 on the calendar but only the second one on GGPoker. The first 31 of 85 tournaments were playing out on the WSOP platform in America throughout July, while the international players had their chance to play beginning July 19.

On the first official day of WSOP play on GGPoker and its sister sites on the network, Event 33 began. The No Limit Hold’em event required a $1,111 buy-in, with $1K going into the prize pool. The $111 was set to go directly to Caesars Cares, a charity run by World Series of Poker parent company Caesars Entertainment.

Hundreds upon hundreds of players logged on and bought in…before the online poker system had a technical problem. What ended up being a bug prompted by an overloaded system prompted GGPoker and the WSOP to cancel that tournament.

When it resumed on Sunday, July 26, players seemed happy to return to the event. And when registration ended, there were 2,323 entries in total, creating a prize pool of $2,580,853. The top 332 players received payouts of at least $2,249.38, but it was Alek “astazz” Stasiak of Canada who won the WSOP gold bracelet and $343,203.53 to go with it.

DID YOU HEAR ABOUT Alek Stasiak 🇨🇦 ?

Played a $10 satellite – QUALIFIED ✔️
Took his seat at the $100 satellite – QUALIFIED ✔️
Next step, took his seat at @WSOP Event #33: $1,111 Every 1 for Covid Relief ✔️
Won the BRACELET and $343,203 ✔️

YOU COULD BE NEXT…#GGPoker pic.twitter.com/AizG5gsy8H

— GGPoker – HOME OF WSOP 2020 ONLINE BRACELET SERIES (@GGPokerOfficial) July 28, 2020

Caesars Cares Wins Event 33

When GGPoker tallied the buy-ins and reentries with their fees for the charity tournament, the site announced that players raised $257,853 for the “Every 1 for COVID Relief.”

On top of that, GGPoker added another $96,903 to bring the total amount of the donation to $354,756.

The money was donated to the Caesars Cares organization, an assistance fund to help members of the Caesars Entertainment family who have suffered due to Covid-19-related property closures during the pandemic.

The public charity raises funds through contributions from its board of directors, business partners, and individuals. Assistance will remain available beyond the reopening of Caesars’ properties due to the long-term effects of the pandemic and its economic ramifications.

WSOP Executive Director Ty Stewart expressed gratitude to GGPoker for the contribution, which will help Caesars team members “experiencing unexpected setbacks as we work towards resuming operations and restoring normal business conditions,” he said, adding elation about the company adding nearly $100K to the money raised from the tournament.

Over $350,000 Donated By International Poker Players & @GGPokerOfficial to Caesars Cares Relief Fund – GGPoker adds to $257,853 raised in WSOP Online 2020 poker tournament. Read more : https://t.co/zXnk1aTNh6 pic.twitter.com/OL631xVtuc

— WSOP (@WSOP) July 31, 2020